Newbie seeking suggestions

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by frozen tundra, Dec 22, 2020.

  1. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Funny - just 5 minutes before seeing these last 2 posts, I had taken a few photos of a section of the 'stream' that flows for about 200 feet through my garden. Since it is dry for most of the year, some might call it a ditch but it's quite pretty November to April - noisy too. The stones are always moving in my stream due to the force of the water and because I have to disturb them when I remove leaves and branches that constantly fall.
     

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  2. frozen tundra

    frozen tundra New Member

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    WOW! Beautiful, thanks for sharing.
     
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  3. Nik

    Nik Contributor

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    I agree.
     
  4. Nik

    Nik Contributor

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    Hi Margot, your stream looks so nicely maintained, I like it very much!
    I have a very similar situation, a three-season stream, and (mostly) dry creek June to mid-September. Mine is in a completely wild area of the yard, even though it is prominently visible from the house, and I never do any maintenance on it. It looks quite messy right now, with leaves and branches all over the place. Semi-frozen at the moment, but one can still hear the water running.
     

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    Last edited: Dec 30, 2020
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  5. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot Oh so lucky to have such a beautiful and natural water feature running through your garden. Hope you never change or move one stone.
     
  6. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Nik you and Margot have made my wife and I very envious with your wonderful and natural running water through your gardens.
    We have a pump and some pebbles but nothing we do will ever look as good as your gardens. I hope @frozen tundra takes a lot of notice of how water should look in a garden from your amazing photos, even if it is to be imaginary water from carefully placed stones as in posting #25.
    'Oldies and Newbies can gain a lot from this thread'.
     
  7. frozen tundra

    frozen tundra New Member

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    Great pix and lovely wild setting. Babbling brooks are one of the great features to living in CT.
    Like Acerholic, we're green with envy. I spent hours digging, grading and placing stone. Looks like I'm in for spending hours moving stone, again.
     
  8. frozen tundra

    frozen tundra New Member

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    As they say in my profession, "back to the drawing board." I'll have to start googling pix of real streams\brooks and see if I can figure out how to emulate nature.
     
  9. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

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    Yes I agree with the photo that Nik fr CT posted above — the difference is simple yet 100% percent

    What I see is the lovely large rocks you’ve placed (a lot of work!) just need to be less of a line-up

    Then keep the « water » part of the dry stream consistent and repeated like what Nik has posted - i do prefer the smooth black Pebble look in Nik photo vs the very busy cobbled look (clearly took a lot of work!) — again personal taste

    Kind of like if one was designing a brochure or newsletter - we don’t add in every possible font avail on the software.

    Edit edit edit

    Which echoes what contributor Margot suggests above « repeat plantings » so this might mean - if you are starting out and like « hosta » for example — do not go out and buy 8 different names ... start with - say - 3 of one and 5 of another and make a swath of flowing patterns to go in your lovely hardscape

    Having spent much time in the true tundra myself (Churchill Manitoba & north) - thé rock outcrops definitely are the focal point of the beautiful natural scenery

    I am wondering as well if you can have 3 focal point containers in which you can grow a summer seasonal striking plant — example « canna lily » would look striking

    I always say odd numbers (like 3) because it just works — sometimes we want pure symmetry (gardens of versailles) and other times we like asymmetry odd numbers grouped

    Taunton Fine Gardening magazine has lots of design and photos and plant vs climate advice

    Looking fwd to update photos
     
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  10. frozen tundra

    frozen tundra New Member

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    Hi Georgia, thanks for chiming in on my project.
    You and others have made it very clear that the dry creek needs alteration to make it natural looking Vs like symmetrical soldiers guarding a pathway. Been diligently checking out various creek pix online. It "appears" not only should the rocks be randomly move inbound but changing the grading within the creek should be addressed. Come Spring (about July 4th-SMILE), I'll try arranging rocks and grading to be more natural. Not my strong suit as you can see, but I'll do my best not to let this forum down.

    Yes agree with using odd numbers and nature's golden rule.

    If I had the interior room to winter over plants I would use container plants that are tropical and do not survive Zone 4.

    Will check out Taunton Fine Gardening , thanks for tip.
     
  11. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Funny, isn't it that a thread titled Newbie seeking suggestions should have morphed into comments about streams . . . Hidden away as it is between just a few of us, I thought I'd tell you about my stream and pond experiences in my former garden in Burnaby, BC about 25 years ago.

    We lived in a very low area not far from 2 large lakes, Deer Lake and Burnaby Lake. Our garden was very boggy during the wet months so I decided to channel the water through a seasonal stream with a pond partway along. Digging was easy since there with nary a stone to be found, but it took me about a year to dig an approximately 2-1/2 foot by 6 foot by 8 foot pond. I lined it with a butyl rubber lining, rimmed it with (for me) huge boulders and planted it all around with appropriate plants.

    All was great until the winter storms started and rainwater began to flow through. I'll never forget one morning discovering my pond turned completly upside down from the force of air and water underneath the lining. You can't imagine the damage caused by the flood that insued when all the water in the pond was displaced. I've read about this since but knew nothing about it before choosing where to place my pond.
     
  12. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, totally agree how threads can expand, but isn't it fascinating to read all the posts with past experiences. I'm enjoying it very much.
     
  13. frozen tundra

    frozen tundra New Member

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    Having this thread turn to discussing streams has been very helpful for this newbie. Will have me paying attention first to making the creek more natural looking come Spring. Given everyone's suggestions sounds like any stone rearrangement will be an improvement. Hope I can pull it off to everyone's delight.

    Margot, so sorry to hear of the debacle especially after a year of digging and numerous hours of setting stone and plants. Must of been horrifying waking up to such a mess. Regardless of form, water is one of nature's most destructive elements. Thanks for sharing.
     

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